24th May 2007

Bill Clinton and Bill Gates are teaming up to develop technology that can be used by major cities that are attempting to reduce their carbon footprints.

The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft have announced a long-term partnership to develop a suite of technology tools that will enable cities to accurately monitor, compare and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The technology will include both software and services.

"The Clinton Foundation is committed to a business-oriented approach to the problem of climate change," said Bruce Lindsey, CEO of the Clinton Foundation. "This new software tool will be an important resource in our work with cities around the world to fight global warming in practical, measurable and significant ways."

"Technology has the power to make a positive, long-term contribution to solving the world's environmental challenges," said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft. "By partnering with the Clinton Foundation, we can increase environmental awareness and drive sustainable change that will help cut global carbon emissions."

The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft will be assisted in developing these new measurement tools by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Microsoft will build the new software tools using the knowledge base that ICLEI has acquired in developing its Harmonized Emissions Analysis Tool (HEAT).

The role of communities in tackling carbon emissions is vital. The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft believe technology can play a unique role in bringing people together to tackle the global environmental challenges that the world faces today. The partnership aims to empower cities with relevant technology to address shared global environmental issues.

Microsoft, together with a consortium of partners, will develop a single Web solution to allow cities to clearly understand their environmental footprint. With this information, cities can make better choices as they aim to improve their energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

The new online, Web-based software tools will be provided pro bono to cities and will be available by the end of the year. The software tools will support cities to collaborate in new ways via the Web and online communities, enabling them to work together to monitor their progress and share best practices. They will be compatible with existing emissions reduction tools for cities, allowing the export and import of data from other systems.

In August 2006, President Clinton launched the Clinton Climate Initiative, a project of the Clinton Foundation, and announced a partnership with the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, a consortium of 40 of the world's largest cities committed to fighting global warming. The online tools to be developed by Microsoft and the Clinton Climate Initiative will provide these cities with a baseline and standardized measurement of their carbon emissions, as well as the ability to track the effectiveness of emission reduction programs and share best practices.

Ultimately, the new software will serve as a global standard for cities in their climate change accounting, mitigation and communications efforts. The completed measurement tools will consist of a multilingual, online and offline software service accessible around the world. Microsoft will lead the technical software development, and will help establish a consortium of private sector partners that will support the cities in the creation and long- term sustainability of the project. The Clinton Climate Initiative will direct the project and disseminate the new tool to cities that are taking action to curb carbon emissions around the world. The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft will partner in this effort with ICLEI, building the new software tools using the knowledge base that ICLEI has acquired in developing emissions reduction tools for more than 1,000 cities worldwide. They also will be assisted in this effort by the Center for Neighborhood Technology.